Boots for mounting on the wall of a motorwell of boats for receiving cables, hoses and/or wires have been in use for many years. Prior art boots for such use have generally been made from either a hard or soft material such as plastic, rubber or vinyl. When hard material was utilized for the boot, a person, when rigging a boat, would have to select a boot having an opening therein slightly larger than the cumulative sizes of the cables, hoses and/or wires which he anticipated would be required in the rigging process. Such boots have not been in great use in recent years since they had the disadvantage of causing a supplier to stock boots having several sizes of openings therein and were deemed impracticable. Prior art boots made of soft rubber or vinyl generally included a plurality of raised tiers which required the person rigging the boat to cut or split the boot to the approximate size of the cumulative sizes of the cables, hoses and/or wires anticipated to be required in the rigging process. An example of this type of prior art is shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings. Both types of prior art boots had many disadvantages; e.g., the boot would not normally fit snuggly or tightly around the hoses, cables and/or wires; if, at a later date, either the boat or outboard motor was modified to require fewer cables, hoses or wires to pass from the interior of the boat through the opening in the boot, the size of the opening in the boot would be excessive; and for these reasons, there would be no tight or snug fitting of the boot around the cables, hoses or wires to prevent water from going through the openings in the boot and wall of the motor well into the interior of the boat.
The instant invention relates to a boot for mounting on the wall of the motorwell which overcomes the numerous disadvantages of the prior art boots. No longer is it necessary to select from numerous boots or to cut or split the boot when rigging a boat. This invention pertains to a boot having a full open area for passing one or more cables, hoses or wires therethrough when rigging a boat, and to simply pull a tie or drawstring snuggly or tightly around the cables, hoses or wires to complete the installation. The full open area provided in the boot of the instant invention is of size that it can readily accommodate a wide range of sizes, or number, of cables, hoses or wires. If, at a later date, it becomes necessary or desirable to pass more or less cables, hoses or wires through the opening in the boot, it can be readily accomplished by loosening or cutting the tie or drawstring, and replacing only the tie or drawstring, at the user's option.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a relative inexpensive boot for receiving cables, hoses or wires passing through a hole in a wall separating compartments of a structure.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a boot for mounting on the wall of a motorwell of a boat and which is capable of being closed to fit snuggly and tightly around cables, hoses or wires passing through the opening in the boot.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide such a boot in which the means for closing the opening of the boot snuggly or tightly around the cables, hoses or wires is a tie or drawstring.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.